The Move to Digital Cinema and Theaters Near Portsmouth, New Hampshire
New England theaters and those across the country have mostly made the conversion to digital cinema in the last decade. The standard of celluloid film and analog film projectors has been replaced after a hundred years of use.
A little concentration and moviegoers may notice a change in the theater. Listen though they might, they will no longer hear the clicking of the film spooling through the projector. The only "cigarette burns" and scratches in the film that will be seen are ones that the director intended to be there. The frequent problems with the gears and reels which would derail the film until a projectionist could attend the problem are also gone.
People may be surprised to learn that most digital-ready theaters actually lack a projectionist whatsoever. The projection is all controlled electronically, with a digital projector attached to a hard drive containing the movie to be screened. Aside from the hard drive, distributors also use the internet, dedicated satellite links or optical disks like Blu-Ray. Seen to be improvements is how most theater customers have judged the changes, when they notice them at all.
Converting to digital hasn't been without its complexities, however. It tends to be primarily the costs involved that give the owners some pause. A lot of theaters considered DCI compliant proectors too expensive to consider until Hollywood switched to purely digital output in 2014.
The DCI sets requirements for both video (resolution, frame rates, compression and color) and audio to be met in order to gain compliance. Most of the major motion pictures studios joined together in 2002 to form the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI). The DCI was meant to guarantee the quality and reliability of every film by meeting specific standards.
With the DCI decision, most theaters, including the movie theaters near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, swallowed the bitter pill and became digital theaters. A report from spring 2015 showed that 38,719 out of the 39,789 screens in the United States had been converted to run digital films.
Larger theaters were more easily able to take on the costs involved, which could be up to $100,000 per screen. The prices for the projector, the lamp and the lenses could range from $30,000 - $40,000 per unit in itself.
Choosing the proper projector is dependent on the screen size, brightness requirements and the format (such as 3D) being exhibited. For instance, theaters with screen larger than 35 feet wide will need a higher lumen level and thus different bulbs for the projector.
Of course, it is the movie studios that control the path of the industry and going digital for themselves can actually save them money. One example of this can be found in the fact that studios no longer have to produce multiple copies of the same film prints but can transfer the film effortlessly from one server to another. Digital cinema, for this reason, is not likely to go anywhere in the near future.
Film Happenings In And Around Portsmouth (Pt. 2) Audiences Welcome Digital Cinema in Theaters Near Portsmouth, NH
